Clubs, Cults, and Societies
Aldergate boasts a dazzling collection of clubs, societies, student organizations, study cults, and other formall and informal collections of affiliated human. Here are some of them: Social clubs The Anthropophagi - The Anthropophagi is a dining club based out of Barrow Hall. Classic Barrovian sense of humor. The Wetherby pathology labs are careful to keep a close eye on the cadavers in the run-up to the club's annual Dark Banquet, held in ritual silence in the college's Ossuarium. Everybody's 99% sure they're just mucking about, and that 1% keeps it interesting. The Bloodletters Club - The Bloodletters Club is an unknown society - not a secret society, and they take the distinction seriously - headquartered in the Lignam Arms Hotel. Not much is known about the Bloodletters except that membership is restricted to persons who have served time in the bloodshedding trades (mostly surgeons and soldiers, though there are other exotic specimens). Prof K is a member, and a steadfast patron of their excellent kitchen. The Gwendolen Society - The Gwendolen Society is a dining club based out of Delora College. While not an expressly political organization, the Gwens have a long-established track record of developing diplomats and party officers, with a distinguished global network of alumnae. Nominally female-only, the practice of according honorary gender status to visiting guests and even full members dates back at least to the 1500's, when Thomas Cromwell was a regular attendee of the annual Feaste of Gwendolyn. The Mendicants - A social club of no fixed address. In fact, it claims to have been banned within the City of Aldergate - although what the Mendies could have done to earn such a ban, or who might attempt to enforce it, are questions that bear little scrutiny. Anyhow, the Mendicants are best-known for their "ostentatious displays of poverty," and particularly their twice-yearly "Beggars' Balls" - charity galas generally held around Bonnefyre and Wakefyre. These events are notorious ragers, and tickets of attendance cost (per venerable tradition) "the thousandth part of self." For non-Aldergatians, invitations to purchase these tickets are extended carefully and discreetly. To be asked is an exceptional honour; to refuse is a good way to be publicly humiliated by mischievious gangs of quaintly-tatterd vagabonds, occasionally in one's own boardroom. It's a rare Beggar's Ball that doesn't generate a solid seven figures' worth of charitable donations. Membership in the Mendicants is officially a secret. Mendies may identify themselves by wearing a single uniquely-disgraceful article of clothing - a shoe with the toes busted out, trousers shredded in the seat, etcetera. However, between the vagaries of fashion and scholarly disregard for personal appearance one can never be quite sure. Performance clubs The Aldergate Players - A roving troupe of performers, most often sighted on the Pent. The particulars of their performances are not entirely clear, but they seem to be enormously popular - popular enough to attract a large and enthusiastic crowd in the middle of a rainy November night. The performers wear distinctive, moderately disturbing masks - but should not be confused with the Masked Ones who are sometimes seen attending them. The troupe appears to be responsible for [Squiggle]. Their leading lady is the ever-popular Wink. The Campaknowlogists - The current incarnation of the venerable change-ringing club based out of Wardon College. Known to take the bell-ringing arts - and itself - incredibly seriously. Officially banned from using the Wardon Carillon since the 1800s, when an attempted record peal of 100,000 changes resulted in the death of three members (two from exhaustion, one at the hands of the angry mob that stormed the belltower after nearly two full days of non-stop ringing). The Camp-anologists - A drag and variety performance troupe. Their identically-pronounced name was a calculated and successful attempt to incur the wrath of the Campaknowlogists, which has resulted in perhaps the most ridculous vendetta in the University's long and distinguished feuding tradition The Flying Foxes - An aerial performance club based out of MacNaughton College. Notable for their tradition of "guerilla" performances that use unconventional, prohibited, or highly dangerous anchors for their silks, trapeezes, etcetera. The fellow who managed to dangle a lyra from Lady Liberty's torch is a legend among the Foxes, as is the seven-minute show he managed to put on prior to being reeled in and arrested. The Masked Ones - Provisionally categorized as a performance club, but the nature of their art is, at this point, unclear. They seem to like hanging about on the Pentangle, but what exactly they're up to remains something of a mystery. Sporting clubs The Bester College Rugby Union Football Club - Captained by the exceptional Renzo Rey, rumors suggest that the Bester squad may be able to topple Oxbridge this year. Aldergate hasn't taken the Ivory Teacup since 1917 - but hope springs eternal. The Old River Rippers - Aldergate's very own roller derby squad. The Maupin Club - A fencing club based out of Silvan College. Rumors of the club's non-sword-related activities are many, magnificent, and unconfirmed. Other The Knights of St. Bernard - An essential (if unofficial) arm of University operations, the hardy volunteers of the KSB roam the inumerable nooks and crannies of the Colleges, distributing candy and liquor to obsessive scholars who may have run out of calories before running out of ideas. Without the KSB, student mortality would spike overnight. The Naked Apiary Society - A naturist beekeeping club based out of Tozan college. Famous for their fundraising calendars featuring strategically-placed bees. The Polyglot - What started as an attempt to republish the Daily Bystander in the native language of every Aldergate student is now a sort of crowdsourcing nexus for Aldergate's linguists. Got an important source document written in Torlakian? Want to flirt with a Haida hottie? Miss the dulcet tones of a Mokilese lullabye? If the 'Glots can't help you, you can't be helped. The Society of Preservationists - A powerful coalition of historical hardliners, including several members of Regent House. The SoP stands staunchly opposed to any sort of change to the University's buildings and properties - which apparently includes updating the Great War-era electricals in the Manse of the Vice Chancellor. Squiggle - Not a clue. Whatever it is, it's hyping like mad - enigmatic posters all over the place. No doubt all shall be revealed in time. The Timesavers - A social club dedicated to slowing the planet's rotation. They get sloshed, put on monastic robes, and dash madly from East Gate to the Tempire on the first of every month. To point out that this seems counterproductive is to regard the enterprise with some measure of seriousness, which one probably ought not.